Open Access Policy

1. General Principles

• All BM-Publisher journals are open access — articles are freely available online immediately after publication with no subscription or registration barriers.
• Readers may download, share, and reuse content provided appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the source.
• Open access promotes global dissemination of knowledge, supports equitable access to science, and aligns with the Budapest Open Access Initiative and Plan S principles.

2. Licensing & Copyright

• Authors retain full copyright to their published work.
• All articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license unless otherwise stated.
• This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, and adaptation in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly cited.

View the CC BY 4.0 license terms

3. Permitted Reuse

• Readers may reuse, copy, redistribute, or adapt BM-Publisher content for any lawful purpose — academic, educational, or commercial — with appropriate attribution.
• No additional permissions are required for reuse beyond the conditions of the Creative Commons license.
• Reusers must not imply endorsement by the author(s) or BM-Publisher.

4. Archiving & Preservation

• All published content is permanently archived in trusted digital preservation systems, including CLOCKSS, LOCKSS, and Portico.
• Metadata and full texts are deposited with indexing and archiving services such as Crossref, Google Scholar, and DOAJ.
• Each article receives a unique and permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

5. Article Processing Charges (APCs)

• To support the costs of peer review, production, archiving, and open access hosting, BM-Publisher may apply a transparent Article Processing Charge (APC).
• APC rates and waiver policies are listed on each journal’s website.
• Waivers or discounts are available for authors from low- and middle-income countries or in cases of demonstrated financial need.

6. Compliance with Funder Mandates

• BM-Publisher journals fully comply with open-access mandates from funding bodies such as the Wellcome Trust, NIH, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and European Commission.
• Authors are encouraged to include their funder information and grant numbers at submission.
• All metadata contain licensing and funding information for indexing and reporting to funders.

7. Author Self-Archiving Policy

• Authors may deposit the accepted manuscript (post-peer-review version) or the final published PDF in institutional or subject repositories immediately upon publication.
• Deposited versions must include the article DOI and citation to the published version of record.
• No embargo period applies to BM-Publisher content.

8. Editorial Independence & Ethical Standards

• Open access does not compromise editorial or peer-review standards. All manuscripts are evaluated solely on scientific merit and ethical integrity.
• BM-Publisher adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ICMJE, and WAME recommendations.

9. Contact